Great read...you have helped me very much in my own preparation. Will be doing a trip South this late summer/fall with an unknown destination. I like Baja so much that could not resist doing it again. We paraglide on the sand dunes on the beaches there and it is to much fun. Ship that gear home from La Paz or pick it up later.

How did the open source GPS maps workout for you?

What was the best place you saw? Fav country? How was Uruguay?

While it is fresh...What would you do differently?

I admire and understand your doing this trip solo.

Cheers.

the GPS source maps worked out great. absolutely invaluable and 95% reliable for navigating in and out of the big and medium sized cities. worth their weight in gold, but then again, they are electronic and don't weigh anything...

best place i saw? rethink the question - that's impossible to answer with so many amazing places. i really liked argentina alot - the people, the cities, the high andes passes to chile. uruguay - ok. some nice beaches. it's a pretty small place and maybe a little boring for culture and scenery? (sorry uruguay).

i'll be working up and posting the changes to my riding gear very soon. other than having too much stuff, there's not a lot i would do differently.

riding solo is more my style. i can be a bit of an anti-social loner at times. i don't like 'group decisions'. but when i'm feeling social, it's very easy to find people to hang out with in cities, hostels, or just about anywhere. i'm not opposed to traveling with someone, but that is what i needed to do this time.

one of my main goals on this trip was to experience a football match (it's not soccer here) in a major south american city. because the season was not yet started when i was in the south (brazil, argentina, chile), i haven't had that opportunity. however, i got info upon arriving in medellín that a big match was occurring. the stage was set for a huge rivals battle between the two major teams in medellín - medellín (red/blue) vs. athletic nacional (green/white).

i was lucky enough to spend some time with fantastic people at the hostel in medellín. antony from london. hong and suzanne from the netherlands. tamara from australia. steve from ireland. lisa and julien from germany. and caroline and danielle from sweden. and many others. as well as cooking and eating some meals together, 8 of us headed to the big game together.

we rode the metro to the stadium and got off the train with all the green fans. the red fans would continue to the next stop. as mixing the groups is not wise unless you want a lot of fighting. we secured some tickets off the street for the section at centerfield, in a 'neutral zone' between the greens and reds. this section was protected by policia on either side - effectively riot police numbering in the hundreds. there was an enormous police presence at the game. we went through three separate checkpoints where they patted us down for weapons. i had none, and was allowed to attend.

entering the stadium after the two hours of chaos and self-orientation was something i'll never forget. a deafening roar hit me immediately. then we walked out and looked at the field, and saw all the fans in full chant, which continued throughout and after the game. the greens lowered some banners down from the top, and sitting in the front were obligated to hold them on the field. we had taken sides, and would suffer the full wrath of the medellín fans if anything went down. we would also have the "protection" of the nacional fans.

the fans were extremely animated, some provoking the other side. after one of nacional's goals, a guy in crutches made his way to the field in front of us and then proudly showed his ass to the bleachers of medellín fans on the edges of the neutral zone. they were throwing things toward us in disapproval. after the match, as we spilled onto the streets, we saw a fight break out - they came to find the guy in crutches and someone punched him. he held strong, and was at one point wailing on his attacker with his crutches. these are serious fans.

nacional came back from 2-0 in the last 10 minutes of the game for a tie. this tie relegated medellín to the B-league, which was a devastating blow i'm sure. the game and the intense setting with the mountains in the background, the insane fans, the feeling that anything good or bad could happen at any moment - all combined to create an experience i'll never forget.

monday, i left medellín for cartegena, colombia on the caribbean coast. the 11-hour marathon ride left me at the finish line, where i now sit in a nice little hotel writing one of my final entries from south america. i have put nearly 25,000 kilometers on my triumph, traveled through eight countries, crossed the andes seven times, seen nearly every major city in south america, and had the experience of a lifetime.

in cartagena you sweat profusely. it is extremely hot and extremely humid here, especially at mid-day. sometimes so much that it's difficult to think. a hotel or hostel with air conditioning is an absolute requirement, but thankfully easy to come by. most of the taxi are also air conditioned. this is a good place to buy a white linen shirt and pants for the heat. i'm slowly putting an ensemble together with my abundant spare time.

the city's colonial construction is very well preserved. the old, walled city is filled with incredible old buildings and narrow streets, each more amazing than the next. they are in various states of repair and disrepair. the north part of the old city, consisting of 'el centro' and 'san diego' neighborhoods is a bit thick with tourists, but fascinating to walk. i stayed in an obnoxious hostel for the first couple of nights, but then fled the drunken mayhem for a nice little hotel in the 'getsemani' neighborhood just to the south. getsemani's ratio of locals to tourists is about 95% to 5%. i like it here better.

this is a city of vice. cartagena is swarming with every nefarious endeavor or product that money can buy. venture out at night as a man, and you are constantly approached by pimps and hookers alike. don't feel like cuddling up with a prostitute? well, then you can buy cocaine, weed and other drugs from the same guy. what an efficient system. cartagena is a bit like vegas, but with fewer rules. that is why so many professional conventions are held here. going out at night, you see packs of dentists, doctors, engineers, and lawyers - all looking in the dark corners of the city for something they shouldn't be looking for.

in fact, last april, president obama's secret service scandal occurred here in cartagena. the agents picked up some girls at a club called 'tu candela', an infamous gringo den, then headed back to their accommodations at the 'hotel caribe'. both of these places are within walking distance of my hotel.

this is also a city of aggressive vendors. go to the old town or the beach, and you will turn down no less than 2 offers per minute for random trinkets, food, t-shirts, and other useless stuff. sometimes a simple 'no gracias' is not enough to stave off the solicitations. i've learned from locals that in this case, you have to be a bit aggressive yourself - a flip of the hand like you are waving off a dog and then ignore the seller. i watched a colombia bartender at the beach chase off a vendor like he was a stray dog - he said 'sale, lobo!' - get out of here you wolf!

it's an interesting place, but the nearly 2 weeks i will end up staying here is about 1.5 weeks too much. i was planning on flying home on the 9th of may, but the vessel MEDEA that my bike will ride to galveston, texas is late into the port of cartagena from brazil. so now it's looking like i'll need to fly out around the 12th.

monday, i'll start the process and paperwork with customs, the port authority, colombian police, and various other entities to get my bike outbound to the US. i have to personally be present for an anti-narcotics inspection when the bike is loaded, so that blew my plan of getting everything done in advance and taking off early. and trusting someone else to represent me does not seem wise in a country as infamous for drug trafficking as colombia. motorcycles are historically popular places to hide and smuggle cocaine.

so here i am, doing my best to not go crazy waiting to go home. i've walked all over the city, and am running out of corners to explore. i guess i can just watch a week worth of movies in the hotel room, but that doesn't seem right. to be honest, i'm a bit tired of traveling and really don't feel like going anywhere else in colombia, but i really can't anyway due to the process i need to begin on monday. speaking with a friend today on the phone, i admitted it is not perhaps as glamorous a finish line as might be desired, but sometimes real life and real adventure can be rather dull. it remains an adventure. it remains real life.

You have plenty of good options outside Cartagena. You can extend your ride or park your bike (I wouldn't) and head east out to Santa Marta, Taganaga, Parque Tayrona, Cabo de la Vela, etc. If you head west you'll experience a different kind of tourism (not aimed to gringos) If you were to head South Mompox may be of interest to you. The latter two options are truly off the beaten path.

I can sit on the beach and enjoy it for about two days before i start looking for something to do, hence my perspective. you could even fly to bogota fairly cheaply or go back to Medellin which I'm partial to since it is my birthplace.

Regarding vice...the sad part of the market is the ever present demand. Lots of overlanders take advantage of it as well as the locals... it happens in every city.

Nice report. Too bad I miss a lot of pics because of Photobucket's bandwith limitations or however you want to phrase it.

I would make the trip East about 40kms along the coast to Volcan del Tumo for a little relaxing mud bath, free on certain days when the regular tourists are not scheduled.

I don't know what cargo company you are planning with but if fly out of Bogota to Miami it is about the cheapest way back to the States and then just truck ship or ride the bike back to the PNW. Check RTWPaul's thread last person I know of to do it and it was under $1000 to Miami IIRC.

You have plenty of good options outside Cartagena. You can extend your ride or park your bike (I wouldn't) and head east out to Santa Marta, Taganaga, Parque Tayrona, Cabo de la Vela, etc. If you head west you'll experience a different kind of tourism (not aimed to gringos) If you were to head South Mompox may be of interest to you. The latter two options are truly off the beaten path.

+1 on Parque Tayrona. There should be a lot of info available. Once you are there, you can also look into the lost city hike.

there were no motorcycle-shipment related tasks today, so i met up with hong & suzanne, and hong's sister and her boyfriend, and the five of us adventured down south of cartagena to find playa blanca (white beach).

you can take a high-speed boat from the harbor in cartagena direct to the beach in 30 minutes. but we opted to take a small bus, a ferry over a river crossing, then a group of 100cc moto-taxis instead. it cost less, but more importantly is a lot more interesting. it was about an hour to get there this way.

when we arrived, we were all very excited to see a perfect, picturesque white sand beach, complete with palm trees, a coral reef, and a guy selling cocoloco's (a coconut with piña colada mix and white rum added to the coconut milk inside… as nature intended.) we didn't have the beach all to ourselves, as it's a fairly popular spot, but it was such a beautiful beach it didn't matter. we happy fended off the expected assault of vendors with a smile.

the other four stayed on the beach for the night in rented cabanas, but i needed to get back to meet with my local export agent to talk about the upcoming tasks for the week and get some document's to him. at 3pm, i took the high-speed boat back to cartagena to try the ocean route. fun ride jumping the caribbean waves back to the port.

i'm meeting the export agent on wednesday afternoon to buy personal liability insurance (required) for the port facility and sign some documents. on friday, i'll deliver the bike to the port and arrange for the inspections. the police inspections will hopefully occur on saturday, assuming the ship arrives in port on time. i'm going to change my flight home for monday morning the 13th, to give an extra day in case the ship arrives late.

i'd like to get back to playa blanca for another day and sleep-over if i can find the time.

for those of you list geeks out there, here's my official post-adventure review of the gear that i used (and in some cases, never used.) would be happy to answer any gear-specific questions...

1. first of all, i took too much stuff. classic first-timer mistake that we all must go through in our own way. someone could have told me, 'fritz, you won't need these things', and i wouldn't have listened. in brazil, i sent home nearly 50 pounds of gear and clothes. even after this, i feel like i could have lost another 50 pounds. there was never a time when i was riding and technically couldn't handle or navigate with the load i had. that's not the issue, i wasn't riding the in the Dakar Rally. the loss of weight would simply mean that i would have had less stuff to pack, unpack, sort through, keep safe, etc. that is the real benefit, especially when a large percentage of your life on the road is packing and unpacking every single day. the other obvious benefit of less weight is a lighter bike for when you are parking the bike in a million weird different locations, up steps, over curbs, in living rooms, etc.

2. one major change i would make: no camping gear. although i did camp a hand-full of times, and love camping, in most cases i could have just slept in my riding gear and been almost as comfortable on the ground. i estimate all my camping gear, including cooking, pots, pans, sleeping pads, tent, sleeping bag, etc to weigh around 25 pounds. that would make an enormous difference. yes, i enjoyed making coffee a few times, and having a warm freeze-dried meal, but i would have been fine without it. i also assume that if i didn't take camping gear, i would not need to have a top box on the bike - just the 2 panniers, tank bag, and duffle. much easier

3: regarding the "Touratech Zega Pro 38L side and top cases, anodized black, w/ matched lock sets" - these are beautiful, watertight, and lightweight cases. the mounts were rock solid through three zero-speed tipovers. but the first time they take the weight of the bike in a fall, they become very expensive 'metal boxes'. the left and right panniers now let in water, so thankfully i had planned ahead and packed liners. i love the mounts, they are attractive and very strong. if i could do it over again, i would probably use a pelican case left and right, maybe on the top rear if i needed it too. a pelican could take a fall without deforming and keep it's watertight qualities. i didn't do pelicans because i didn't like the side-load. but there was almost never a time that i got into the side cases when that would have been a major inconvenience.

4. regarding Heidenau K60 Scout dual-sport tires. i love these tires. i whined a little bit about the center tread area wearing too fast, but when i switched to the anakee II tires, i would have killed a man to have the scouts back. their traction on and off road is incredible. yes, the middle section wears fast to about 60%, but that last 60% takes FOREVER to wear down further. i changed my first rears way too soon, i could have gone at least another 5,000 km on that rear - AKA, i could have done the entire trip on 2 rears. the front is still on the bike after nearly 25,000 km, and still has a way to go. and now you can buy them from the triumph dealer in santa cruz, bolivia - he liked mine so much he became a dealer.

5. take less clothes... you will wear and wash the same things over and over (look at my photos, i'm always wearing the same things!) hauling less weight in and out of hotels and hostels is worth it's weight in gold (or not worth it's weight... i'm confused.)

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Note: (*) - indicates an efficient, innovative or otherwise amazing product that i'm glad i found
Black: if it's still black, i liked it.Red: items that i would strike from my list and the reasons whyBlue: other comments

Motorcycle Spares:Brake and clutch levers
Clutch pedal - levers were too much weight and space, if i had a crash bad enough to damage, i'd have a lot bigger problems than levers
Oil filter - one spare is a good idea, only found at triumph dealersAir filter
Headlight bulb
Turn signal bulbTurn signal plastic lens cover
Fuses, assorted
Rear axle nut
Rear brake pad (3 sets) - i would take 3 sets for a trip this long, they were also hard to find
Front brake pads - still have a bunch left on my original setBolt/washer assortment
Misc bolts, nuts, washers, assorted

Tire & Tire Equipment:
Heidenau K60 Scout dual-sport tires (mounted) - see note #4 above
Heidenau K60 Scout dual-sport tires (spares, left at trip mid-way location) - REAR SPARE ONLY, if you can, place a spare half way along your route.BestRest Bead Breakr kit w/ 3 tire irons * - there's always a gomeria somewhere close, even if you have to wait. i failed to perform a change in the field.
Slime compact air compressor - amazing product. was completely waterlogged for a week, when it dried out, it started right up

Communication:
Scala G4 2-way headsets (2) + charger - only if you are riding with a partner, never usedSpot Connect GPS tracker/Medivac transponder + USB cable (w/ iPhone App) - hated the SPOT, was a constant pain in the ass to connect to my iPhone. get a normal spot or a different manufacturer